Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro

Compared 2 smartphones : Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus Manufactured in February, 2021, with display 6.7 with chipsetSamsung Exynos 2100, vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro, Manufactured in May, 2020 with chipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 720G. Below are specs, tests, pros and cons for each device

Key Differences

Device key advantages
Reasons to choose Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
  • Larger display: 6.7in
  • Higher refresh rate: 120Hz
  • Lighter design: 200g vs 209g
  • Supports newer USB: 3.2 vs 2
  • Supports Dolby Atmos
  • Built-in eSIM
Reasons to choose Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
  • Higher pixel density: 395ppi
  • Higher battery capacity: 5020mAh vs 4800mAh
  • Infrared port

Versions

Available versions and configurations
Memory Options - 8/128 GB
- 8/256 GB
- 4/64 GB
- 4/128 GB
- 6/128 GB

Review

Key Specs Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus and Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
Display
Color accuracy, sharpness & brightness
Camera
Main & front camera tests
Performance
App & system performance
Games
3D gaming performance
Battery
Battery life, charging speed & type
Connectivity
Connectivity features
NanoReview Score
Overall score by NanoReview
Adjust each parameter’s importance to find the best match for you.
Customize your score
Function
Importance (Weight)
Display:
Camera:
Performance:
Gaming:
Battery:
Connectivity:
Higher weight means greater impact on NanoReview score.

Tests & specs

Specs & test comparison

Display

Display quality comparison
Type Dynamic AMOLED IPS LCD
Size 6.7 in 6.67 in
Resolution 1080x2400 pixels 1080x2400 pixels
Aspect ratio 20:9 20:9
Pixel density 394 ppi 395 ppi
Refresh rate 120 Hz 60 Hz
Adaptive refresh rate Yes (48-120 Hz) No
Max brightness 1300 nits 450 nits
HDR support Yes HDR10+ Yes HDR10
Screen-to-body ratio 88.7 % 84.4 %
Features - DCI-P3
- Always-On Display
n/a
Display test
Peak brightness (auto)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
879 nits
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
615 nits
sRGB gamut98.9 %99.8 %
PWM (Flicker)240 Hz2404 Hz
Response time6.2 ms35.2 ms
Contrast∞ Infinite1649:1

Design & Build

Design and ergonomics comparison
Height 161.5 mm (6.36 in) 165.8 mm (6.53 in)
Width 75.6 mm (2.98 in) 76.7 mm (3.02 in)
Thickness 7.8 mm (0.31 in) 8.8 mm (0.35 in)
Weight 200 g (7.05 oz) 209 g (7.37 oz)
Water resistance IP68 No
Back panel Glass Glass
Frame Metal Plastic
Colors - Black
- Silver
- Gold
- Red
- Purple
- White
- Gray
- Green
Fingerprint sensor Yes In-Display Yes In-Button
Screen-to-body ratio
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
88.7 %
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
84.4 %

Performance

Testing Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus and Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro In benchmarks
Processor
Chipset Samsung Exynos 2100 Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G
Max Frequency 2840 MHz 2300 MHz
CPU Cores 8 (1 + 3 + 4) 8 (2 + 6)
Architecture - 4/2.2 (Cortex-A55)
- 3/2.81 (Cortex-A78)
- 1/2.91 (Cortex-X1)
- 6/1.8 (Kryo 465 Silver (Cortex-A55))
- 2/2.3 (Kryo 465 Gold (Cortex-A76))
Process Samsung Samsung
Transistor Size 5 nm 8 nm
Neural Processor Yes Hexagon 692
Graphics Mali-G78 MP14 Adreno 618
GPU Cores 896 256
GPU Frequency 854 MHz 750 MHz
FLOPS 1530.4 GFLOPS 384 GFLOPS
GeekBench v6
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
1428
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
719
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
3840
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
1874
Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)1428719
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)38401874
AnTuTu 10
AnTuTu 10
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
919348
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
389839
CPU262973139577
GPU29438273153
Memory14730772832
UX214686104277
NanoReview Score919348389839
3DMark Wild Life
3DMark Wild Life
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
5538
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
1044
Max Surface Temp.41.5 °C42.3 °C
Stability67 %99 %
Graphics Test33 fps6 fps
Graphics Score55381044
PCMark 3.0
PCMark 3.0
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
n/a
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
8136
Writing scoren/a9643
Web scoren/a6022
Video editingn/a5453
Data manipulationn/a6923
NanoReview Scoren/a8136

Memory

RAM
RAM Size 8 GB - 4 GB
- 6 GB
- 8 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5 LPDDR4X
Memory Frequency 2750 MHz 2133 MHz
Channels 2 2
Storage
Storage Capacity- 128 GB
- 256 GB
- 64 GB
- 128 GB
Storage TypeUFS 3.1UFS 2.1
Memory CardNoMicroSD

Software

OS Android 11 (Upgradeable to Android 14) Android 10.0 (Upgradeable to Android 12)
OS Size 27.2 GB 18.9 GB
UI Skin One UI 6 MIUI 14

Battery

Volume 4800 mAh 5020 mAh
Max Charging Power 25 W 33 W
Battery Type Li-ion Li-Po
Removable No No
Wireless Charging Yes (15 W) No
Reverse Charging Yes (Wireless) No
Fast Charging Yes (54% in 30 min) Yes (50% in 30 min)
Full Charge Time 1:12 h 1:20 h
Battery Life Test
Battery Life
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
20:53
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
26:36
Web Browsing07:28 h10:27 h
Video Playback13:15 h13:57 h
Games05:04 h05:33 h
Standby Mode105 h143 h

Main camera

Matrix 12 MP 64 MP
Photo resolution 4000x3000 pixels 9248x6920 pixels
Zoom Optical, 1.1x Digital
Flash Dual LED LED
Stabilization Optical Digital
8K Recording Up to 24FPS No
4K Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 30 fps)
1080p Recording Yes (Up to 60 fps) Yes (Up to 60 fps)
Slow Motion 960 fps (720p) 960 fps (720p)
Wide-angle lens 120 ° 119 °
Lenses count Standard: 12 MP
Telephoto: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 12 MP
Standard: 64 MP
Ultra-wide: 8 MP
Macro: 5 MP
Depth: 2 MP
Features - Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
- Bokeh effect
- Pro mode
- RAW support
Main lens
Matrix12 MP64 MP
Aperturef/1.8f/1.9
Focal length26 mm26 mm
SensorSony IMX555Samsung Bright S5KGW1
Sensor size1/1.761/1.72
Pixel size1.8 μm0.8 μm
AutofocusPhase autofocus (Dual Pixel)Phase autofocus
StabilizationOpticalDigital
Telephoto
Matrix64 MPn/a
Aperturef/2.0n/a
Focal length28 mmn/a
SensorSamsung Bright S5KGW2n/a
Sensor size1/1.72n/a
Pixel size0.8 μmn/a
StabilizationOpticaln/a
Ultra-wide lens
Matrix12 MP8 MP
Aperturef/2.2f/2.2
Focal length13 mm13 mm
SensorSony IMX563GalaxyCore GC8034
Sensor size1/2.551/4.0
Pixel size1.4 μm1.12 μm
StabilizationDigitalDigital
Main camera DxOMark results
Photo quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
129
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
n/a
Video quality
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
137
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
n/a
Overall camera score
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
133
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
n/a
Bokeh70n/a
Preview72n/a
Zoom126n/a

Front camera

Matrix 10 MP 16 MP
Photo resolution 3872x2592 pixels 4920x3264 pixels
Aperture f/2.2 f/2.48
Focal length 26 mm n/a
Sensor Sony IMX374 OmniVision OV32A1Q
Sensor size 1/3.24 1/3.1
Pixel size 1.22 μm 1 μm
Autofocus Phase autofocus (Dual Pixel) No
Stabilization Digital Digital
Video resolution 2160p (4K) at 60 fps 1080p (Full HD) at 30 fps
TOF 3D sensor No No

Connectivity

Wi-Fi version Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax) Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac)
Wi-Fi features - Dual Band
- Wi-Fi MiMO
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
- Dual Band
- Wi-Fi Direct
- Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Wi-Fi Display
Bluetooth version 5 5
Bluetooth features LE, A2DP LE, HID, A2DP
USB type USB Type-C USB Type-C
USB version 3.2 2
USB features - Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- USB-Host mode
- OTG
- Charging
- USB Storage Mode
- OTG
GPS - GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- GPS
- GLONASS
- Beidou
- Galileo
- NAVIC
NFC* Yes Yes
Infrared Port No Yes
Connectivity
SIM Count*22
SIM TypeNanoNano
SIM ModeDual SIM StandbyDual SIM Standby
eSIM Support *YesNo
Hybrid SlotNoNo
2G BandsGSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHzGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600 / 2300 / 2500
3G BandsWCDMA Band 1, 2, 4, 5, 8HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
LTE Bands*LTE (B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28/B32/B38/B39/B40/B41/B66)LTE (B850/B900/B1800/B2100/B2300/B2500/B2600)
LTE category2412
5G SupportYesNo

Sound

Speakers Stereo Mono
3.5 mm Jack No Yes
FM Radio No Yes
Dolby Atmos Yes No
Speaker Test
Max Volume
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
87.8 dB
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
87.1 dB

Other

Class Flagship Mid-range
Announced January, 2021 yr April, 2020 yr
Release Date February, 2021 yr May, 2020 yr
Launch Price ($) 1000 185
Sensors - Hall Sensor
- Barometer
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
- Proximity Sensor
- Gyroscope
- Accelerometer
- Ambient Light Sensor
- Compass
- Fingerprint sensor
* Attention! Config, frequencies, NFC, and other specs may vary by region.

Results

After analyzing the data, we consider Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus the clear winner in this comparison.

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